Tonight I ran my first karaoke night at
Cafe Eclectic in downtown Montclair. I was nervous as hell because I didn't know what to expect. I'm used to doing these shows at bars, and for most people it takes a fair amount of liquid courage to make them get up and sing.
As I was setting up, these two young women, sitting on a couch in front of the small stage, voiced that exact thought. I started to get nauseated. Cold sweat streamed down my face. I'm pretty sure I went pale.
What if nobody sings? What the f*** was I going to sing? What's the capital of
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh?!?!As it turned out, I'd worried needlessly. One of the aforementioned women was named Shayna, and before the night was over, she'd sung everything from Aretha to No Doubt and back again, and very well at that. Completely saved my ass.
Coffee John, so named because he works at the cafe and there are just too damn many Johns at the West Side on Thursday nights, did his usual complement of Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Springsteen and Kid Rock. Entertaining as always.
Fred stepped up late with an authentic Tom Petty imitation. Julio, the owner, joined in the fun by joking his way through "Piano Man."
I gotta say, I like this gig. It's an early night (I got home before midnight), the cafe's got a great vibe, and there are no obnoxious drunks to spoil the fun.
I've got three more weeks left in my trial run there, but it looks promising, so come on out one of these Wednesday nights, ya know, have some espresso, a little dessert, rock the mic a few times, it's all good.
Oh, and by the way, the capital of
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh is Des Moines.
